Goddess May I
by Awesome one
Summary: Anna, one of the greatest bards of her time, seeks out the mysterious Goddess of Winter. She longs to find the truth behind the many stories surrounding the Goddess who supposedly resides in the mountains of her childhood home. She is prepared to go down in history for this epic journey. But she is not prepared for what awaits her there.
1. Chapter 1

"Uh huh wow! That is just, gods, _so_ fascinating. Really. But I've got a carriage to catch so…maybe let go?" Anna pulled her arm, snared between the thick fingers of the drunken man sitting on the stool next to her, babbling on about his old war tales. The poor bloke seemed so lonely and had been in such a need to wet his throat the bard had happily thrown down coin for a few pints. Unfortunately she hadn't foreseen him growing drunk so quickly on the thick brew and latching onto her like a pup to the teat of his mother. She had foolishly revealed to him that she was on the hunt for new stories and he had began regaling all his years spent in the King's Royal Navy. As if his story about Billy the One Armed Chart Boy leading them in circles for three days would inspire nobles and royals for years to come. Anna of Arendelle was not a cheap bard by any means. She had written epics of great warriors to the North and brought a Queen to tears with her beautifully crafted words. She had sung a haunting group of lyrics to a barbarian threatening a village and impressed him so much that he promised to leave that village be for the rest of the time he spent alive. She had seen war so that she could sew the images of blood and tears into every letter, every curve and swoop of every word. She had sailed far and wide over countless oceans to visit distant lands and learned a great many different languages just to grasp the full effect of everything she portrayed to these strange new people. Anna of Arendelle was one of the greats. She did not tell stories of drunken sailors making mistakes. She told stories about magic and wonder, lore and love, betrayal and death. She didn't lie, she didn't need to. She went out to experience it just so she could pen it in beautiful hand, using the strongest inks on the most expensive of paper, and sold the volumes to the greatest libraries in the major cities. Arendelle, Weselton, Southern Isles and the neighboring lands. She would speak to the people or the scholars about things that seemed implausible or downright insane then track it down to find if it were true for herself. If it turned out to be the myth everyone thought it to be then she would turn away and find a new story to seek. In most cases however it turned out to be true.

Anna was on one of her quests now. She was only passing through her home town of Arendelle to find the North Mountain of lore said to be home to a goddess. According to legend she had power over winter itself and lived within a great castle made of ice guarded by large creatures made of snow. They were described as bulky creatures as tall as the oldest of trees and stronger than 30 horses tied together. They were docile so long as fools didn't dare go near their great goddess. A goddess whose beauty was rumored to be so breathtaking that any who looked upon her fell to her feet smitten and swore themselves to her. For the goddess was a lonely creature banished from the heavens for injuring one of her sisters and cursed to the earth for all eternity, longing for a mate but never finding one. Many men had gone in search of this goddess hoping to prove their stuff by being the one to bed the lonely Ice Goddess but none had come back. They were either consumed by the bitter cold of the snow dressing the mountain ranges of Arendelle or were blown clean from the peaks by the howling winds above. Part of the problem was that there was no North Mountain on any of the maps in Arendelle. The mountains stretched far too both sides of the valley and reached so high into the sky at some points that they disappeared into the clouds. A person could wander the ranges for years and possibly never find the North Mountain. Of course they'd likely freeze to death before that, succumb to hunger and thirst, or be eaten by the vicious wolves that prowled the peaks.

Anna, however, would be the one to find it. She had spent an entire year gathering all the information written about the Ice Goddess and a fortnight in the Arendelle library pouring over maps, old tomes, and even older journals written by the past Generals of Arendelle's prestigious army. This quest meant more to her than any of the past because making this discovery would make to be one of her greatest works yet. Never before had she put so much into one of her quests. She felt giddy just thinking about it.

"Oi did I tell y'ah 'bout t'e time me an' ol' Billy got potatoes t'rown at us?" He looked up at her through glazed mossy colored eyes and twitched his lip to the side, expertly flicking the ale foam from his mustache.

"Most likely. Honestly I really have to catch a carriage. I'm in a hurry. The sun won't wait for me you know!"

His whole face squished to one side as he contemplated Anna's words, "Eh? Sun? It's daylig't out t'ere?"

"Gods help me. Here," She reached into her coin purse tied to the cinch around her hips and set a stack of silver coins atop the bar top in front of the man, "Drink your self to sleep friend. I must be going."

His ale clouded eyes widened perceptively and his lips pulled apart to show a gruesome gap toothed smile, "Gods bless y'ah miss!"

"Yes please Gods bless me. Goodbye stranger!" Anna gave him a jovial wave despite her previous irritation with him and pushed her way out of the tavern into the muddied street outside. Just down the way she saw an open carriage waiting for her with her bags already in the back. The driver was leaned against the side of the carriage packing his long stemmed wood pipe with smoking tobacco. Anna smiled as she drew nearer to him and leaned forward to hug his thickly muscled arm.

"Hello Olaf! I'm sorry I took so long. I indulged the wrong type of fellow and he just about talked my ear off."

The burly old man ran a hand through his thin white hair and clamped his teeth over the stem of his pipe, "It's alright Miss Anna. I do get paid for this sort of thing you know. I should get paid extra 'cause 'm-"

"Getting to old for this. I know Olaf. Same story, different setting. I keep telling you to quit."

Olaf grunted and held out his hand for Anna to hold onto while she climbed into the carriage, "And I keep tellin' you there ain't no way I could live with myself if I let you traipse around like you do without me there protectin ' you. Your Mom and Pop would have my head."

Anna laughed merrily and reached through the window in the carriage door to give her oldest, dearest friend a slap to his boulder like shoulder, "Don't bring my parents into this please. I have seen 24 winters. I do not need my parents brought into anything anymore."

"Aye but most would disagree. You not being wed and all. It's very unlike ladies of your bringing up. Just the other day while we was at your old house with your folks, your Mom gave me this speech about how unbecomin' it was of you to be off writing silly songs and stories instead of bein' home takin' good care of some fella and giving him all sorts of babies. Not to mention you are always dressin' in those men's dressings. "

Anna huffed and folded her arms, sinking back into the seat of the carriage, "Okay firstly, you do a splendid impression of my mother's voice Olaf. I'm a little jealous. Secondly, I love wearing dresses thank you very much. They just get in ones way when one is trying to locate myths and run away from big things with teeth that have a hankering for tiny humans like me!"

Olaf tapped his chin with his pipe thoughtfully and gave a little nod of acquiescence, "That's a fair point Miss Anna."

"I know it is. Thirdly, I am not going to be some mans housewife just to please my mother. Thank you but no thank you! I have a gift that I refuse to waste so I can breed with someone who has the intelligence of a rock." Anna scrunched her nose up in distaste thinking about the last man—Hans—her mother had tried pairing her with.

"I thought rocks were pretty smart. That one time I had a whole conversation with a rock."

"Those were trolls Olaf. Not rocks."

"Looked like rocks to me."

"That's the general idea. Hence the name Rock Trolls."

"Don't get lippy with me! I'll have you walkin'. You wouldn't want that would you?"

Anna folded her arms petulantly, "No…"

"Thought not." He gave her a little tut before climbing up into the seat and taking the reins in his large hands. He gave it a little whip and the two cart horses started forward in the direction they were pointed. Anna hoped they would make it to Oaken's Trading Post before dark so they could trade in the carriage for a nice sled and get a hot meal before they began their ascent up the great mountains of Arendelle. The meal would be less important of the two. When they were planning everything out and deciding on the route they would take Olaf had been persistent that they only travel during the day to lessen the chance of an attack. Anna, the silver tongued devil that she was, had easily convinced him they would spend less time in danger if they steadily traveled through the night as they did the day. He hadn't been pleased but he had given in as he easily did when Anna used the lure of her quick witted words.

Despite it being summer here Arendelle was rather cold and halfway up the trail to Oaken's Anna had to slip on a thick woolen cloak treated in minx oil. It was rather long towards the back end and brushed her ankles each time she walked but it was warm and the slits in the sides for her arms had buttons to keep most of the cold out until she had use of them. Olaf had done a fine job in choosing it. As per usual he would not allow Anna to shop for their supplies. She was so prone to forgetting the necessities and splurging on confections that wouldn't last or ornate leather bound journals she claimed she couldn't live without. Brilliant and talented she may have been but she didn't have much of an attention span or the maturity to buy to survive rather than for pleasure. She was forced (though not unhappily) with the job of acquiring all the knowledge needed for such trips and remembering it all which was thankfully something she was good at doing. Olaf helped with that too on occasion by keeping her on track. If it was snowing outside he'd have to practically belt her to the chair to keep her inside instead of frolicking in the cold white power like an exuberant child. Anna had always adored winter for the chance of snow. Olaf wasn't a very big fan of it. He always complained that staying outside in it made him feel like a lumpy snow man. He was more of a summer kind of man.

By the time they reached their destination the sun was just beginning to set behind one of the great mountains in the distance. Anna was thrumming with excitement. She threw open her door and jumped out without looking first, landing directly in a large pile of snow. It surrounded her clear to her chest and, though the minx oil in her cloak prevented it's wetness to seep past the cloth, it didn't stop the cold.

"Oh _cold, cold, cold, cold_! Olaf! Help! I'm being attacked!"

Olaf jumped to his feet (rather quickly for an old man) and was on the ground in a half of a second with his favored crossbow pressed to the cleft of his shoulder. His alert eyes scanned the perimeter for the unseen enemy supposedly attacking his little friend. She flailed her arms toward him pathetically like a toddler reaching for its mother. He seemed slow to take in that she had cried out help where no help was needed and shook his head in frustration. Though he still lent her an arm and pulled her from the snow attempting to swallow her.

"What have I told you 'bout lyin'?"

Anna gasped dramatically, "I _am not_ a liar Olaf! I was merely exaggerating the situation."

"Okay, well, what have I told you 'bout exaggeratin' the situation?"

Anna lifted the tail of her cloak to inspect it for dirt she knew wouldn't be there simply to avoid making eye contact with Olaf, "You haven't. You told me not to lie."

Olaf opened his mouth to speak then snapped it shut. His bushy eye brows hunkered down and he squinted at her in clear exasperation. She flapped the snow from her cloak and lifted her legs high with each step to wade through the waist deep snow, pausing only to pat her man servant on his chest. She could hear grumbling as he unloaded their things about bards and their tricky way of wording things to flounder people.

When she got to the stoop of the long building almost entirely blotted out with snow she stepped up onto the only wooden step to reach high and tap the snow covered sign hanging above her head. The snow fell away to reveal a simple sign proudly displaying the name of the establishment and the name of its owners.

"Brilliant. Olaf! We've made it!" He waved her off and continued with what he was doing before she spoke to him. She smiled happily and clasped her hands together in front of herself. After checking with the owner and securing a sled to take up the mountain she went to help Olaf lug their heavy cases into the barn where the sled was kept. She struggled with one oddly long case that she suspected to be Olaf's weapon chest. When Anna finally dragged the chest into the barn beside the sled she fell to the ground with a huff and flung her arm over her eyes.

"Hey none of that. It was your idea to go all night. I ain't gonna be the only one awake for this bloody cold trip." He easily lifted the heavy case Anna had dragged in to stack it with the rest and set about tying them down to the sled with braided rope.

"I've just had a sudden change of heart. Let's sleep here and get a good start tomorrow morning. Goodnight!" She pulled her hood up and rolled over onto her side, getting cozy in the pile of hay she lay in. Before she could get well and truly comfortable Olaf slid his arm around her middle and picked her up like barrel, tucking her beneath his arm and carrying her over to deposit her in the cushioned seat of the sled.

"Hey, hey buddy! I _do not_ pay you to _manhandle_ me!" She huffed and kicked her feet up on the dash of the sled beside the reins. Olaf slid into the seat beside her and knocked her feet back to the flooring before taking the reins in his hands and giving them a light whip to prod the reindeer along.

"I should though. For all I do when you get yourself in trouble."

Anna scoffed and flipped one of her braids over her shoulder dramatically, "I resent that. I do not get in that much trouble."

Olaf gave her a side glance and snorted.

"I don't!"

"No? Remember that time you fell off that waterfall?"

"Not my fault! That river was deceptively shallow. How was I supposed to know that ankle deep water ended with a massive waterfall?"

"You shouldn't have gone running along it in the first place!"

Anna folded her arms and sunk down in her seat, "It was pretty. I was taking it all in."

Olaf shook a stern finger at her without taking his eyes off where he was leading the reindeer, "Yes and that's why you're always getting' yourself in trouble! Like that time you were takin' in those carvings on the wall and ended up trapped in a cave full of cannibals!"

"Okay you are obviously exaggerating. They weren't cannibals they just happened to be quite partial to meat belonging to various creatures that happened through their cave. I happened through it and they wanted to eat me."

"What about when you were taking in an interestingly colored boulder that blinked at you and unfurled into a huge dragon?"

Anna bounced in her seat with excitement just recalling the moment, "Oh but that was exciting wasn't it Olaf!? The dragon's scales had to be larger than my head. And do you remember the thousands of gems wedged between them? That's why it glittered so prettily."

"Glittered from the firelight of our carriage it bloody set on fire trying to kill us!"

Anna sighed wistfully, "That's what makes it so poetic."

Olaf harrumphed and shook his head, "Bloody bards."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, simply content to exist in one another's presence. They had been paired together the day Anna turned three years old. She could remember him from her earliest of days as being the same broad chiseled man with a strong jaw and a soft heart always eager to protect his charge. He must have been in his thirties then and though he was only hired to watch over Anna until she had reached her teen years he had stayed with her. Having become attached to her magnet personality and her chipper attitude he couldn't find a reason to walk away. With no child of his own she stood in place of any he could have sired. Though they bickered constantly Anna loved him dearly as he did her. Olaf had always been there for her even when she didn't know she needed him and she couldn't fathom how she would get along without him. Eventually she knew they would part if he found a nice woman or if she managed to find someone who could keep her interest but until then she refused to let him go.

As they moved along Anna reached into his side bag for his pipe and packed it full of tobacco for him like she had learned to do by watching him then lit it with a match. He took it gratefully and clamped his teeth over it, pulling the light colored smoke into his lungs and making it whistle quietly. When Anna was a child that noise had simply delighted her and had always sent her into a frenzied fit of giggles. Now it was a sound she associated with all things warm and of home.

"So," He spoke around the pipe with practiced ease, "do you really think we are going to find a powerful queen up here?"

Anna held up a single finger, "Goddess. And yes. I really do."

"Queen. Goddess. What's the difference? They are both woman of power."

"A Queen rules many, a Goddess rules all."

Olaf rolled his eyes and shook his head discretely, "Bloody bards. Fine, Goddess. Do you really think it's a good idea to just show up at her house unannounced? That seems like the type o' thing Goddesses wouldn't be very keen on."

Anna nodded her head in thought, "You make a very good point. I told you we should have bought chocolate."

Olaf snorted, "And what difference would us havin' chocolate make?"

"We use the chocolate as a peace offering obviously. Honestly Olaf."

"'Cause I'm sure a Goddess who has the ability to control winter would want chocolate from two humans. 'Oh here you go Miss. Thanks for not turnin' us into snowmen and lettin' us stay with you. Also could you tell us your life story so my friend here can pen it all down for the masses to read? Gee thanks, you're a real friend'. Brilliant plan Anna."

Anna sniffed with faux haughtiness and smoothed her palms over the front of her cloak, "You should know I have noted your sarcasm and it will be in the pages I write. Also this is hereby declared as slander against me, your employer."

Olaf smiled around the pipe between in his teeth and laughed his warm rolling thunder of a laugh, "Slander? Now you're being ridiculous."

"And you are fired! So there!"

"Actually you fired me when you fell off that horse and I laughed at you. I think that was…oh I'd say four winters ago."

Anna pinched her brows together in thought, "Did I? Then I've been paying you for no reason this whole time?"

"I suspect so."

"Damn my memory," She patted her coin purse tied to her belt, "I apologize," When Olaf looked over she held up a hand and patted her purse again, "Not you. This. The poor thing has been emptier than it should have been because of my ignorance."

Olaf opened his mouth to no doubt give her some sort of sassy retort but the sound of splintering wood overshadowed whatever he said. The sled jerked forward and the straps anchoring the reindeer to the sled snapped, sending it running off into the darkness making all sorts of noise. Despite not having the reindeer to pull it anymore the sled was still propelling forward and seemed to be going faster by the second. Anna grasped the dash of the sled tightly and looked around with fear blown eyes.

"Olaf what's going on!?"

"It would appear that the Goddess doesn't want visitors!"

"What is that suppose to mean!?"

He pointed over the edge of the sled at the ground just before the sled jolted again and creaked loudly. Shards of jagged ice stuck up through the snow like lances trained directly for the runners of the sled and tore at it with each one the sled ran over. The structural integrity of the sled was decreasing rapidly and each ice shard only made it worst, rocking and jarring the sled that was speeding down the mountain face uncontrollably.

"Okay I know you'll be angry at me for this but this is definitely going to make the story about finding the lost mountain and its icy goddess all the more epic!"

"I swear to the Gods I will push you out of this sled right now Anna!"

"That is incredibly rude!" The sled jolted hard and a part of the runner flew up past Anna, narrowly missing her head. She squeaked in surprise and scrambled away from the side of the sled, huddling against Olaf's strong form. Through the darkness near the edge of the tree line Anna was certain she saw movement but they were moving so fast they blew past it before she could get a good look. A flash of blue blew through the thicket of trees and a new set of jagged ice spikes stuck up to tear their sled apart.

"Oh my Gods Olaf! I think I just saw her!" She sat on her knees and twisted in the seat to look back towards where the movement had been. Nothing could be seen through the darkness. She braced her forearms against the back of the seat and leaned forward, hoping the extra few inches she pushed herself out would allow her to catch sight of the goddess again.

"Put your ass back in the seat!" Instead of giving her time to obey Olaf gripped the back of her cloak and pulled her down roughly.

"Hey! What did I say about manhandling!?"

"Now is not really the time for that Anna!"

Beneath her feet the wooden floorboard bowed up and splintered. The right runner broke off and flew with the wind past Olaf's arm. In no time at all the sled would be ripped to pieces and they would be mercy to the jagged ice spikes growing from the snow. Looming not so far ahead of them stood a frosted wall of ice. Deep cracks ran up the face starting from the base of the ice wall to create a small entry of sorts. To the left and the right the wall disappeared behind the trees. If they continued forward the sled would slam into it and they would probably die on impact. That is if the sled didn't tear apart before it got that far.

"We're going to jump Anna!"

She whipped her head in Olaf's direction and shouted, "Are you mad!?"

Olaf didn't allow for an answer. He pressed his wide palm into Anna's shoulder and shoved mightily. Her small girth gave way under his immense strength and she tumbled from the sled into the snow, narrowly missing the jagged ice spikes sprouting from the snow. The impact was rough and jarring but not enough to slow her immediately. Her body tumbled at an alarmingly fast past, round and round, at odd angles that shot lances of pain all round. Desperately she clawed at the snow to slow her pace but it did little more than tear at the sensitive flesh of her fingers and wrists. Another flip round and down the side of the mountain and her soft cheek met an unearthed rock. Fresh pain livened the skin for but a brief moment before the adrenaline now turning her blood into a cocktail of energy swept it away. She slid right uncontrollably, veering in the direction of the ice spikes, and nearly became impaled. Reflexively she curled her body, best she could, away from it but it was not enough to prevent her cape from being snagged. The spike bit into the fabric and held tight enough for the entire garment to be torn from Anna's body. She jerked roughly backwards and snapped her head into the snow from the whiplash. A thrumming beat filled her skull like a temperate child banging at the thick bone with clenched fists. Blackness crept at the edge of her vision. Her body lost its tightness as she began to lose her grip on consciousness and she rolled limply for a few more turns. Without her futile attempts at trying to control her descent she rolled hard to the left and was stopped when her body hit the strong base of a tree. Something she hardly felt now that she had been slowed considerably after her cape had been stolen from her.

She was only grateful that the spinning had stopped even if she felt it still in her swimming vision. She wiggled her toes and rolled her ankles, pleased that she could still achieve that with no pain, and repeated the move with her fingers and wrists. Once satisfied that nothing was broken she pulled her left arm from under her weight and slowly moved to her back. After such a violent experience she needed a moment to gather her wits. The adrenaline rush subsided leaving her feeling drained and she argued that closing her eyes would do no harm. She would simply rest and then she would find her bearings, locate Olaf, and whatever of the sled remained after it met that ice wall. Though the drain was more than she had anticipated and the moment she closed her eyes, no matter how cold the snow was beneath her, she drifted off.

When she awoke it was to the sun rising to create morning and the air fresh with early smells. What woke her were the horrible shivers shaking her lithe frame and the horrible cold all around her. Snow had melted and seeped into the backside of her breeches and through the double layer of her silk vest and finely tailored poet shirt. Cold crept from below her and had curled around her, through her clothes, like a claw that gripped her tightly in its vice. Only now she wished she had worn a dress if only for its offering of many layers. Her brilliant mind was quick even after the beating it had just taken and whispered to her the warnings of catching death by cold. With no fire, no warm stones, no blankets, and no warmth to speak of she knew she'd have but only the option of movement to fight of the setting freeze inside her. Yet she found the desire to move, even if movement meant survival, just beyond her reach. She felt sluggish and lazy. All she wanted was to fall back asleep but that would not do. She was Anna of Arendelle, one of the greatest bards alive! She had encountered far more formidable things than this and she would not allow herself to be bested by snow!

Gritting her teeth she rolled to her side and rocked herself onto her knees. Snow dipped past the top of her boots just below her knees and dug its cold fingers deep down to her ankles. She braced a hand on the tree beside her and drew herself to her feet. Her knees wobbled for a second worrying her into believing she may fall down. With her feet steady beneath her and her confidence far outweighing the actual boundaries of her strength, she felt well enough to let go of the tree.

She had only managed one step before she was intercepted.

Not by Olaf as she would have assumed but instead by a large creature made up of the white dust around her driving her to illness. The snow creature was tall and his shoulders wide, his arms thick and his hands the size of small boulders. His enormousness forced him to hunch over himself leading to his hands swinging near his knees and his large square shaped head to droop into his chest. Blue orbs dazzled in the area where eyes normally rested on a face and, skipping the smooth area where a nose would be, he had an open area for a mouth full of jagged ice spikes for teeth. Anna stared up at him with fascination and tilted her head to get a better view of his side profile. The large creature mirrored her actions. Perplexed and intrigued Anna tilted her head in the other direction and was delighted to find that he copied the movement again. Slowly she lifted her arm and gave the creature a wave to which he repeated. Now smiling she stepped forward to touch him, eager to learn all she could of the creature. However the gentle sweetness he had been offering her broke and he fell back into a defensive stance. Ice spiked through the snow-skin of his shoulders and forearms and, if possible, he seemed to grow in size. Where there was no fear before Anna gasped and fell on her backside into the snow, scrambling to get away from him. A low intimidating growl rumbled from deep in the snow creature's belly.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean you any harm!"

If the creature understood her he didn't acknowledge it in any way. He advanced quickly and, before she could blink twice, he had her slung over his shoulder wedged between two ice spikes. Natural instinct kicked in and she struggled against him, beating at his back with closed fists and screaming loud enough that it echoed throughout the frozen forest. He withstood the annoyance for only three long strides before he held her aloft by her legs and shook her violently. Instantly she fell submissive. Pleased with her reaction the creature placed her back over her shoulder and took up his long strides in the direction of the ice wall. Minutes bled into what was probably hours. Anna lost count somewhere along the way. She worried about what was to become of her once they reached their destination. Was this creature taking her to the Goddess or was it rouge taking her back to its cave? Which would be better in the long run? And what about Olaf?

She dug her elbow into his pliable snow-skin and rested her chin on her fist.

"I don't suppose you've packed another human recently? Today in fact? Stocky fellow similar to you except perhaps less made of snow and more of the human stuff?"

Continued silence was her only response.

"Can you speak at all?"

No answer.

"Do you even understand what I'm saying or is this coming off as unintelligible noise?"

He growled loudly and shrugged his shoulder to jar her. She hissed when her fist slipped and she ended up punching herself in her tender cheek.

"Alright. Message received."

He walked on in continued silence that was becoming easier for Anna to deal with. The cold from before that had woken her was growing in strength and seeping through the front of her clothes now. She was beginning to feel so tired her head was rolling forward and her eyes were drooping low. Past the point of shivering she had moved into the stage of complete numbness. Even her lips held no feel when she brought a finger up to meet them. Intermittently her eyes would slip closed and she'd nearly fall into a deep sleep only to be woken by a rough shake from the snow creature. Between those moments when she was awake with half lidded eyes she took in her surroundings. Trees began to grow heavier with snow until no green shown and ice layered overtop the snow dressing them. The air was growing thinner and crisp. They were close enough for Anna to swim in the clouds. A beautiful staircase of ice stretched across the dark chasm separating twin peaks. If her arm had been only a few inches longer she could have touched the railing when she reached out for it. They came around a rocky corner into a snow blanketed clearing that he waded through to come upon another set of stairs. These he took quickly, almost eager to reach their peek, if the giant was capable of real emotion. At the top he set her down only for her to stumble into the towering double doors before her. Her arm looped through the ornate handle of ice before her knees could give. Just from that the door obeyed her and swung open, dragging her with it. She crumbled against the door, knees and legs useless. All that held her up was her arm hooked into the handle, now stuck there, as the rest of her sagged. She barely summoned the strength to lift her head and take in the room opened to her.

The room was vast. It took the shape of an elongated rectangle with massive windows at the farthest end of the room. Ice spread through the hard rock walls like veins that bled onto the vaulted ceiling above. In the bleeding veins above were designs and patterns, etched by something finer than any tool or artist could ever hope to achieve. The floor was made of the same dark stone the walls were only this was streaked by a natural clear rock found only in the heart of mountains. Solomonic columns twisted up from the floor into the ceiling, the swirled design allotting a beautifully designed row of marble then ice like light and dark serpents tangled together. Inlaid into the marble were hundreds of differently colored gems, some not even from this region, and taking up a disorganized pattern between the gleaming ice. Hundreds of open doors lined both walls, leading to places Anna could never begin to guess. A long narrow rug made from varying hues of blue silk dressed the floor leading from the entryway up to the dais at the end of the room. Upon the dais sat an ornate throne made entirely of the clearest ice Anna had ever seen and in it sat a wonder.

The Goddess of Winter.

No words Anna knew were capable of describing her allure. Her skin was paler than starlight but no less breathtaking. Like starlight Anna wanted to reach for it, bask in it, and write songs about its unearthly beauty. Her body was dressed in a pure white dress that was cut to fit her body alone and could do justice for no other. Least not in the way this Goddess did. Deep slits ran up both thighs clear to her hips and displayed her long lean legs crossed at the knees. Her feet were bare save the long tangle of silver jewelry studded by clear diamonds and sapphires wrapped round her delicate ankles. A braid of silver cinched the billowy top of the dress to her thin waist. The sleeves hung low over both creamy shoulders and dived low into her bust before it came to a sharp V at her sternum. Round her neck ice flakes curled and spiraled to make a necklace that shinned in the early morning light filtering in from the windows at her back. Both her arms overlapped the arms of her throne in a boneless elegance that inspired the poet in Anna. Long beautiful fingers curled round the edge, flexing mindlessly in a petting motion. Beneath them ice ebbed and flowed like the waves of an ocean, crawling only as far as where the throne met floor before retreating back to the power of her sensuous flexing. Round her brow, just above light sharp eyebrows, rested a thin circlet made of ice and a single hexagonally cut sapphire. Her jaw was strong and raised high against Anna, her unwelcome guest. How appealing it was to the quivering bard and how she wished to kiss the skin there reverently over and over. Her lips contrasted lovely against the nature of her skin, full and dark like the stain of a red fruit. Though lovely they were, they offered no sight of kindness in a smile but stayed impassively straight. Matching the lightness of her brows she had a head of thick platinum blond hair, tousled, giving her the look of a wild animal. Little braids were tangled in with the rest of the straight hair cascading over her shoulders and falling down below to her ribs. But what destroyed the last of Anna were her eyes. Crystalline blue pools flecked by yet more blue blazed from below her circlet of power, near glowing from their brightness. They contained ominous power that tied Anna in knots and filled her with the urge to fall at this woman's feet. Yet, the longer she stared, the more she seemed to find within their swirling depths. Interest was there intermingled with prudence and inquiry. They flicked from Anna to the creature behind her and held the giant long enough for him to bow his head and disappear back outside.

From under hooded eyes she turned her head just in time to catch his back as he strode away. His departure held command over the doors and they began to close with her still strung from the handle. She struggled to loosen her arm from it and fall away from the doors just as they slammed shut. Like they, she slammed too but into the floor instead. Cheek rested against the fine silk carpet and her numb limbs stretched out in uncomfortably careless directions. From her heap on the floor she caught sight of the Goddess rising from her throne and stepping down the two-stepped dais. Slowly she advanced, pinning Anna with her glowing eyes, voluptuous hips swaying sensuously with each step she took. The tattered ends of her otherwise pristine gown fell around her ankles and trailed behind her. Her legs parted between the fabric to show the long taunting flesh between the slits up the sides. Before now Anna had always imagined Gods and Goddesses to be modest creatures. This dress was anything but modest. This woman was the driving force behind the creation of passion and desire.

Her slow gait came to a halt a foot away from Anna's face. Truly incapable of anything other than rolling over and staring up at the Goddess, that's just what Anna did. And the Goddess stared back. Nothing shown in her eyes that Anna could understand, nothing on her face gave way to any readable emotion. After a few silent moments she crouched and settled on her heels, her elbows braced atop her strong thighs. This close up Anna could make out an indiscernible splash of freckles across the bridge of her nose and over the planes of her chest. Each little mark endeared Anna to the Goddess that much more.

So struck by her beauty Anna was, she couldn't even worry about what the Goddess was planning to do with her.

She scanned Anna's features with her fathomless eyes, taking in the blue tint of her lips and the droop to her lids. Slowly she reached forward to press three of her fingertips against Anna's weak pulse. Just the touch alone felt like a blessing and Anna suspected it very well could be. This woman was a Goddess and one that had been rumored to be virginal for centuries. She didn't dull out her touch like a peddler selling goods. It made Anna's skin ache to wake from its frozen state so that it could truly feel the gift that had just been bestowed upon it.

Then she spoke and Anna's ears worshiped her.

Her vocals were rich and low, sounding melodic even just by speaking the soft words she did.

She said, "You will die shortly if you don't ask for my help."

Caught up as she was on the waves of comfort just her voice evoked, Anna found herself confused. Was she supposed to ask for help? How did one go about asking a Goddess for her help? She parted her lips to offer her plea but she just felt too consumed by the cold to find language left to say it. Instead of words she limply reached for the Goddess—her Goddess whom Anna would worship all her days should she live—and loosely curled her fingers round her ankle.

This seemed to please the Goddess. A soft smile spread cross her face and lit her already bright eyes. Gently she traced Anna's fire red brow with the tip of her finger, keeping the touch so light it barely existed.

"Gerda. Come."

Somewhere, somehow, the woman by that name heard her Goddess's call and within minutes came from one of the many doorways lining the throne room walls. It surprised Anna to see someone actually human residing in this place but she was to close to dead to broach it any further than that. The woman rushed to Anna's side and fretted over her, yammering on about her state, to which the Goddess said nothing. Her eyes just held Anna's up until Anna couldn't keep them open anymore.

 **So that happened. I'll possibly add a second and maybe third chapter. Most likely just a second because, lets be honest, I'm terrible at finishing things I start.**


	2. Chapter 2

When she opened her eyes next it was to the sight of a beautifully painted dome ceiling high above her. It was a bit disorienting for her to piece the scattered bits of her memories together and figure out where this ceiling belonged. She'd never admit to a soul how embarrassingly long it took her. Perhaps having her head bashed about and shaken like a rattle had damaged her brilliant mind. But, even if it was slower than she desired, it all came back. Everything seemed dull in light of the realization that she was a guest of the Goddess of Winter.

"Oh good then. You are alive. Well done. Here, have a bit of this." Gerda's weathered face came into view with a stone bowl of something steaming. Anna wasn't given an option of politely declining whatever it was. Gerda used a hand to lift her head by the nape of her neck and pressed the stone bowl against the seem of her lips. Thick fluid leaked in and slid down her sore throat, leaving behind a rich aftertaste she choked on. Gerda hadn't been afraid to be generous with the garlic.

"Oh you're as fussy as the other one Marshmallow dragged in earlier this morning. It's good for you and I'd better see you drink all of it!" Gerda gave her a stern point after depositing the stone bowl into her Anna's hands. Her skirts flapped after her quick march towards the fire across from Anna's bed. She prodded at it sharply with a poker, mercilessly chasing it as it climbed across the log to escape her.

"Other one?"

"Yes," Gerda gave the fire one last poke before giving a nod and standing slowly, using the high backed chair beside her for leverage. "Handsome devil. Bit older. All muscles. Marshmallow found him earlier this morning mucking about the mountain half froze to death like yourself."

Warmth blossomed in the coggles of Anna's heart to know that Olaf had been found and rescued as well. It made the next drink of Gerda's Garlic Soup less dreadful.

"That sounds like Olaf, my manservant. I'm eternally grateful you found him. Perhaps I could go and see him?"

Gerda gave a great huff and slotted her fists over his hips, fixing Anna with a fierce look, "Perhaps not. You nearly died of cold young lady and I did not spend these last two days nursing you to have you go on and waltz around to your content. You need rest. You will remain in this bed until I decide you are healthy enough to go 'round the castle, right?"

The feeling pressing her shoulders down felt suspiciously like being chastised but she nodded without a word. Which was unlike her less her mother was giving her a verbal whipping for her latest stunt. She finished her soup in two large gulps. Water clouded her vision and a burn tingled in every bud on her tongue but her throat hurt less and she felt warm from the inside out. She thumbed the smooth contour of the bowls lip while Gerda buzzed about the room tidying already perfectly tided areas. It was a strange feeling being in a place so far from her birth home, being mothered by a stranger, and guest to an honest Goddess. A Goddess who she'd yet seen since their first, embarrassing, meeting. A Goddess she knew next to nothing about except what lore had told her. She released a breath and set her bowl on the bed stand beside the headboard.

"Gerda? May I ask you a few questions?"

The elder woman brushed a few strands of her hair back before seating herself at the foot of Anna's bed and giving her ankle a light pat.  
"Of course sweetness. What is it?"

"Well it's just…I'm unfamiliar with how I should proceed. I understand that the only reason I, and Olaf, are alive is because the Goddess allowed us here. But what does that entail?"

"Ah," Gerda gave Anna's ankle one more pat, "Elsa told me you may ask me this. I figured you would too. They always do."

Anna's furrowed her brows. A slight hint of jealousy brewed in the lowest parts of Anna's stomach like a storm on the horizon. An interesting reaction, the intelligent part of her categorized, considering she'd seen the lady of the castle only once and heard her speak only twice.

"They?" The word was tainted with the storm, making it sound bitter and deep.

Gerda didn't acknowledge the emotion in Anna's speech. Perhaps it was because she was use to people fawning over her Goddess. She was, after all, the most beautiful creature this world had seen.

"People come to this mountain all the time in search of Elsa. I will admit though, you are the first woman in such a long while. Elsa will let them reach her doors, usually, if they can survive it but she will not allow them sanctuary unless they humble themselves enough to ask for her help. Each come with their own motive but they all stay for her. Some last only a day before Elsa wishes them gone while others live here for a whole season."

Something in Anna was disturbed to hear that many a man had resided here for such a long while with the Goddess Elsa.

She wrapped her long fingers round one of her fiery braids and gave it a gentle tug, thinking through all this new information.

"So then, Olaf and I could leave if we wished?"

"Yes, of course."

"The Goddess expects nothing in payment for her kindness?"

A sad little smile crept cross Gerda's face and she gave a little shake of her head, "The Goddess only wishes for one thing; interaction. She is lonely up here, with nothing but her creations and her staff for company. When people wander through and they stay for her beauty, she keeps them for their friendship. Sadly none ever stay. Some will stay a long, long while but eventually, as with them all, their home calls to them and they leave the Goddess to her mountain and her loneliness. I keep saying, I do, that she needs to just talk to her father up there about-"

"That's enough Gerda! You know Elsa doesn't like when you talk about that stuff with strangers! Goodness, always tryin' to get yourself into tight spots. I'm old, woman, I can't be saving your behind forever!" A voice floated through the wall behind the fireplace, shouting just loud enough to be heard. Gerda snorted and crossed her arms.

"That would be my husband, Kai. He's tending to your man, Olaf, in the next room. Between me and you, he can be a bit of a nag."

"I heard that!"

Gerda snickered and Anna's smiled at the sweetness of the two.

"Well," She gave Anna's knee a gentle pat before standing from the bed and smoothing down the cloth apron overtop her skirts, "I should go see about getting supper started. If you need anything, I'll be back in an hour or so. Try to wait for me. Don't go wandering about, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am."

Gerda collected the stone bowl and left the room with a soft click. Anna' stared at the door for some time after she had left, pondering all she had gathered. Perhaps the lore she had poured over wasn't entirely wrong about the Goddess. She was a lonely creature, seeking companionship in the many that came looking for her. Though the part of never being kept had not been written. Nor her name. Elsa. Such a fitting name for someone of such beauty. Her fingers itched for ink and paper to pen all she had learned already. This was fit to be the grandest tale Anna would ever get the chance to write. She'd ask Gerda for proper writing utensils once she returned since she was certain hers had been ruined along with all her other belongs in the crash. For now she had no option but to wait. Unfortunately her body, even after two days of non interrupted sleep, was weary and she soon drifted off to sleep atop her plush pillow.

XX

Next she woke it was not to Gerda busying about her room with supper as she had suspected. More time must have passed than she had assumed because moonlight filtered through the window on a far wall. It bled over onto the elegant figure draped over the high back chair near the dying fire, now turned to face her bed. Elsa sat still, over watching Anna where she lay bundled up in her bed. A blip of emotion-amusement-shown when Anna startled at Elsa's sudden presence. She knocked her elbow into the headboard behind her and kicked her blankets to the floor with a noisy squeak.

She clutched the throbbing bone in her elbow and curled her body around it, squeezing her eyes shut. Embarrassment burned her cheeks pink but, hopefully, the Goddess had normal sight and wouldn't be able to spot it in the dark. Warm bodied chuckles filled the air, low and throaty but still decidedly feminine. They bathed over Anna and covered her in bumps that had nothing to do with the cold. Little jingles filled the air from the bells braided into Elsa's anklets, accompanying her soft footsteps.

"Even when you aren't sluggish from Cold Sickness, you are a clumsy thing aren't you?" Anna said nothing in response. She couldn't. The ability to speak died at the soft touch the Goddess laid on her elbow. She probed the pinked flesh, carefully inspecting it, and releasing it when she figured Anna to be fine. The entire time Anna kept head down and her eyes turned away, cheeks brighter now than ever before.

"It's not a sin to look at me." Anna said nothing. The bed shifted from Elsa's weight being pressed into the foot of the bed. From the corner of Anna's eye she saw the white flash of Elsa's ankles crossing beneath her thighs. The long parts of her dress did well to cover and preserve her modesty but, still, showed a generous amount of her long legs. Not that Anna was looking anyway. She tilted her head further away. A burn was pinking her neck and threatening to invade her ears.

Elsa gave another warm chuckle, "A shy thing as well, I see. Do you know my name?"

Anna gave a small nod.

"Then I think it only fair you tell me yours," Elsa paused, apparently thinking something over, "Unless you can't speak. Can you not?"

An offended squeak rattled her chest and her head whipped towards the Goddess, "I'm a bard! Of course I speak! I have one of the greatest voices of my time!"

A smile stole Elsa's face, a smile that looked like a victory, and a solitary brow rose high, "Well then, Lady Bard, what is your name? So that I may have the name behind the Greatest Voice of this century."

This Goddess was witty and playful as well as beautiful. Heavens, just knock Anna down and take her heart now. Save her the painful process of falling.

"Anna. My name is Anna."

Elsa tilted her head, sending her storm of platinum hair cascading over her freckled shoulder, "Only Anna? A bard of your caliber with but one name?"

"It's the only name I need for myself. All the others are for the people who need my abilities spelled out before they even have attempted to know my work."

"That's horribly modest of you Anna. I didn't think your kind were capable."

Anna didn't say anything. The compliment buried in Elsa's speech had struck her silent, as she was finding most anything about this Goddess did to her. She fiddled with the fingers in her lap, twisting the rings that had somehow survived her tumble down the mountain.

"Are you uncomfortable in my presence Anna?"

Anna released a shaky breath and chanced a look at Elsa only to find her endlessly blue eyes fixated on her. She had to look away.

"It's not that my Lady, it's just….I'm not…I've never met a Goddess, that is true, but still, even in my imagination, I didn't think it would be like this."

"Like what?" Elsa's voice was full of intrigue, not insult. That was a comfort to Anna who had thought her words had finally failed her and spoke not what she intended.

"All the stories we have on Gods and Goddesses are full of omnipotent beings that are above man and not at all very kind to them. I expected you to be more like that, more…cold. Sorry for the pun. You live up to the idea that all super powerful beings are outlandishly beautiful," Her cheeks were the color of ripe apples now, "but you are very easy to talk to, very friendly. Almost human, dare I say it. Here you were, waiting for me to wake so we could…chat. It's just a little strange for me. That's all."

Elsa remained silent for a long stretch of time. Her face appeared thoughtful when Anna dared to look up at her capturing visage.

"I am interested in that idea," She finally spoke, lifting one of her long legs to rest her chin atop her knee, "since I've known many Gods and Goddesses. We are each different, as are humans. With our own ways and our own thoughts. Perhaps I'm a bit closer to humans since they are within reach of me here. But….this mountain has been my prison for a long time Lady Bard. Men pass through here like the seasons change. Nothing is constant and between each, this place seems to pull me deeper into its roots. You are a new face for a lonely heart. I am, perhaps, a bit over eager to befriend you. I apologize for the forwardness."

Anna parted her lips to speak something, anything, in response, but Elsa leaned closer to her. Cool breath washed over her cheek, small crystals of ice blossoming beneath it. Different kinds of shivers wracked her entire frame and she could do nothing except close her eyes against the onslaught. Elsa's light touch rested against the topside of her thin wrist, not stroking, just touching. Barely touching.

"I will be honest with you Anna, you intrigue me. I've not seen a human exactly like you since I first came to these mortal planes. I wish to know more of you. I wish to hear your stories. Stay here, with me, long enough for me to know you?"

Anna nodded weakly.

"Thank you Lady Anna. I will seek you out when your body is fully healed. Until then, rest well and enjoy my hospitality." With her eyes closed Anna felt Elsa lift her wrist with the gentlest of touches and expose the tender inside of her wrist to a kiss from her soft lips. The pulse beneath the kiss rocketed and thumped madly against the flesh long after the lips had been pulled away. Long after the Goddess herself had left Anna alone in the room.

Anna didn't get anymore sleep that night. Gerda was very upset to find her sitting awake once morning came.

XX

It was three days before Gerda had decided she was fit enough to leave her bed but only on the agreement that she wore an abundance of winter clothes. Not many clothes she owned fit Anna so she ended up having to dress in most of Kai's clothing. The man didn't seem to mind much until Gerda had said he was to thin if a tiny woman like Anna could fit into his clothes. He had stomped off muttering to himself about woman being judgmental. So, dressed down in leather trousers and a long sleeve shirt with a shawl of wolf fur and oversized gloves, she was finally permitted to go visit Olaf.

Olaf, bless him but curse him, had let out a peel of cackles when he saw Anna dressed as she was. No matter that he was swaddled in a cocoon of fleece blankets and wearing a ridiculously fluffy hat that had small antlers jutting from the top.

"Shut up old man! You look just as much a fool!"

He chortled loudly, a full body sort of chortle that knocked his hat askew, "I doubt that Little Bit!"

"Don't call me that!" She waved her gloved hand at him in what was meant to be a threatening manner. It only seemed to further his amusement.

"Perhaps you wouldn't like my company after all huh?" She whipped around and prepared to storm out, waiting for Olaf to call for her to stay. Which he did almost immediately.

"Wait wait, calm down feisty. Grab a chair. I can't leave this bed. That Gerda woman said she'll have my hide and I believe her too!"

Anna spun around with a winning smile and hooked a chair with her fur boots, dragging it to Olaf's bedside before plopping down. He wiggled a massive paw out of his Blanket-Fortress and Anna slipped her own small hand into it, soaking in the comfort of something familiar. She had missed her dear friend during her healing time. For three whole days she had nothing better to do but lie in bed along with her thoughts which, usually, continued to drift back to the lady of the castle. As promised Elsa had not revisited and for that she was grateful. She needed time to collect her wits and wonder about what the Goddess's motives really were. She had seemed honest about her desire to befriend Anna but something else seemed to be there. Something Anna couldn't put her finger on. She had felt how the mountain can affect someone during the nights she spent alone in her room. Her overwhelming desire for company, for familiar, had grown to an almost overwhelming point. Being with Olaf now felt like a fresh drink of water to a dehydrated person.

"This is a strange place," Olaf spoke, voice hushed just in case ears were near, "I've decided. The servants never seem to sleep. Always around when you need them. Not bad people just…strange. And the Lady of the Castle, Elsa, she came to visit me."

"Me as well. Did she express interest in befriending you?"

"Yes. She was interested in learning about me. We spoke shortly. She was awfully friendly for a Goddess, I thought. But mostly all our conversations kept coming back to you."

Anna reeled back though remained tethered at Olaf's hand, "Me?"

Olaf nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah. Where you were born, who your parents were, whether you were of noble birth or had you eared that merit with your being a bard. Ect. Seems fishy to me."

"Hmm," Anna stroked her chin in thought, "how did she seem when she asked all these things?"

"Well she wasn't dishonest right? Like she did seem to want to know about these things but…I don't know. I could have swore she seemed a little…desperate?"

"What kind of desperate?"

Olaf furrowed his bushy brows, "There is more than one kind?"

Anna threw her hands in the air in exasperation, "Oh Olaf! Of course there is! There is a desperation that comes from desire, there is a desperation that comes from need, there is a desperation that comes from bad luck, there is-"  
"The second one Anna. She sounded like she had to know these things. Like it was very, very important."

Anna leaned back in her chair, emitting a low hum, "Interesting. This will require further exploration. Though I will admit, she is a beautiful woman that can be a bit…distracting with her allure, I sense something is off as well. The night I first woke she came to visit me and practically begged that I stay long enough for her to get to know me. Then, before leaving, she placed a kiss against the pulse in my wrist. The longer we have stayed here, the more suspicious I grow. Gerda seems to interested in how well I get along with her Goddess, concerned about the woman's loneliness. Though Kai insists Elsa doesn't like it spoken of, Elsa herself told me that the loneliness this mountain inspires in her is practically killing her. Isn't that a bit strange to you?"

Olaf careened forward so quickly he nearly threw himself out of the bed. His face was that of a somber, overprotective man. His hand free of confines reached further, exposing his arm all the way to the crook of her elbow, so she could wrap his fingers round Anna's shoulder.

"We haven't been here long but I feel we are in a world that we can't begin to understand. Here's what I propose, we stay long enough to rest up and gather ourselves, then we escape. Don't be caught in Elsa's web. I don't know what she's planning but it involves you whatever it is. I just know it."

Anna laid her hand overtop Olaf's and gave it a light squeeze, "I agree with you old friend, something is afoot and whatever it is, has to do with me. But I know two things. One, Elsa is a kind spirit. I can't explain how I know, but I know that she doesn't want to cause harm. But, and this is the second thing, there isn't enough we know about her or this castle. So. Let's make it our mission to unfold their plot, whatever it may be. Then we will decide where to go from there."

"Anna I really think it's a bad idea-"

"I'll take Elsa, obviously, and you work on Kai and Gerda. We will pool our information at the end of the week."

"Anna this doesn't sound like a good-"

"Our biggest challenge yet Olaf! How exciting!"

"Gods forgive me. I just don't know what to do with this child."

XX

After her visit with Olaf, she had wandered around, looking for answers and found nothing of interest. She'd grown tired and gone to bed, lapsing into a strange dream.

Anna was sneaking not-so-sneakily around the castle looking for clues. The castle was truly massive. She had been on three floors already and found not more than an endless maze of locked doors. Though it interested her that the castle went down instead of up, reaching into the heart of the mountain. The further down she went, the colder it became. The wolf shawl was not enough to block out the cold. Ice veins began growing over locked doors, across the floors and reaching for the ceiling, as if crawling for the sunlight. On the fourth floor it became nearly unbearable but she did not turn back. She was determined. The air felt thinner or perhaps she was struggling to breath in such intense elements. Why would the Goddess have an endless amount of closed off rooms like this? Especially when half of them were not inhabitable for humans such as herself.

On the filth floor she could feel her bones rattling and her blood freezing. She wanted to brave it, to test all the doors as she had on the upper levels, but she didn't have the fortitude. After all, this was the last floor. She could tell from the dead end at the end of the corridor. As well, there were fewer doors on this level. Only five. And, if she peered hard through the darkness, she could see that one was open.

Was it worth it?

As she stood there deliberating she watched ice veins grow through the open door and spill across the entry hall, climbing the walls and punching though the roof to reach the floor above. Reaching, ever reaching. With it came a fresh wave of artic cold that felt like a blow to the chest. She stumbled backwards up the steps trying to escape it.

No it wasn't worth it.

She'd fled from the morose halls, hands clasped over her ears to block out the weeping of the Goddess filtering out of the open door.

XX

She couldn't shake the desolate feeling the dream had left her with for three days after. Even when awake, Elsa's cries rang in her ears constantly.

XX

It was a week later that Elsa made well on her promise to seek Anna out.

She had adjusted well to the life of the castle. She woke when Gerda did, before the sun, and helped her prepare the food for each day. It was pleasant even if it was a laborious chore especially when they made bread three days a week. Her mindless wandering round the castle grounds looking for clues became less important and she spent more time in regulated areas like the library and music room. She hadn't spoken to Kai more than twice but that was fine as Olaf was making well on that front. They had gone on a hunting trip to bring back a grand beast that had been plaguing the surrounding area Elsa held dominion over. Anna missed him but knew this would serve well to their cause.

She was in the adjoining washroom of her quarters when Elsa came. The tub was stationed so that, while she was in it, her back was to whomever entered the room therefore she did not notice the woman.

"Hello Anna."

Just as last time, Anna startled at Elsa's appearance, causing a little splash of water to reach over the lip of the tub and fall to the tiled floor below.

"My Lady! I…what…" Anna wrapped her arms around her flushed chest to preserve her modesty and sunk low into the water beneath the protective layer of bubbles. The scrape of a chair being dragged across the floor echoed throughout the room, the chair Gerda usually sat in when she washed Anna's hair and back.

"I've brought you more hot water. Would you care for it?"

"Where is Gerda? She usually does this." Anna's ears felt like they had been in the sun to long.

"I always give Gerda the seventh day off. Most time the sixth as well but with new guests this week she refused to take two days off. I insisted she take this day at the very least. That woman, as stubborn as an old mule," She chuckled as she set the first bucket for Anna's hair to the floor and slowly began to add the second to her bath, "I did this for Gerda as well, when she was younger than you. So don't worry. I do have an idea as to what I'm doing."

Anna was silent for a while, pondering what Elsa had revealed. She relaxed slightly at the new heat of the bath, sinking low into it and letting her arms drape over the side of the tub. Her eyes fell shut and her neck fell back against the lip of the tub. A low, contented hum buzzed from her chest. Elsa to remained silent, respecting Anna's newfound peace.

"How long has Gerda been with you?" She asked softly, keeping her eyes closed.

"Oh, some time now. Let me think…I believe she was just thirteen when she came to my mountain. She'd run from home hoping that the mountain would swallow her, deliver her from her home life. I found her in the snow and brought her here to thaw. She insisted that, in payment, I allow her to be my servant. I was young then, having only come to this place shortly before I found her, and I needed the help to adjust so I allowed it. For as long as I have existed here, I have had Gerda by me."

This interested her. She blinked her eyes open and glanced over at Elsa who, just as if this regular chair were her throne, was leaned back with her legs crossed at the knees and petting the velvet cushions lining the arms. It tickled Anna's underbelly, reminding her of the boneless elegance she'd displayed when Anna had first arrived here.

"So you'd say that Gerda knows just about everything there is to know about you then?"

A slow smirk came across Elsa's face, "Yes but Anna? If you wanted to know whatever it is you are trying to find out about me, you could just ask instead of snooping about like a burglar."

"What? What, ah, makes you say that?" Anna sputtered.

"Do not think that I haven't noticed. Yesterday in your haste to escape my library, you knocked over a shelf of books. Books that, mind you, are two centuries old and irreplaceable. And the day before, when you went into the music room, you left the lid to the piano open. The day before that, you went into my clothing room and-"

"Alright, I get the point. I'm caught," She peered at Elsa who was watching her own fingers pick at the velvet cushions with a sweet smile lighting up her features, "Are you not angry?"

"Angry? No. I am a gentle and kind Goddess who has a very high tolerance for nosey humans," Anna chuckled lowly at Elsa's quip, "I am, however, curious. What is it you are looking for?"

Dare she be honest? She knew, deep inside parts of herself she wasn't entirely sure of, she knew that Elsa was a good person. There was something, something that had been there the second Anna had laid eyes on Elsa, that was devoted to the Goddess. Her body warmed and her heart sang when she was near her. It felt similar to the feelings she had felt when she was a young girl, fawning over the iceman Kirstoff her father hired to bring them large quality blocks of ice each summer. Despite knowing nothing of Elsa except what'd she'd read and heard from the staff. Despite having only spoken to her a handful of times since coming here. The feeling had awoken when she stepped into this castle. Like this feeling had always been inside her but hadn't flourished until it had felt the press of Elsa's crystalline gaze. All of that, it was well and good, if not confusing and a little disorienting.

But there was still something nagging at Anna that told her there was more to all of this. More to Elsa's overeager interest in getting to know her. More to Gerda's not at all inconspicuous pushing of Anna towards Elsa. More to the fact that Anna felt all she did for a stranger. While the feelings were nice and she longed to give into them and find out where they'd lead her, she couldn't. Not without answers.

She ran a hand through her fiery hair to push the wet tendrils of her bangs from her face.

"Elsa, what is it you truly want from me?" She hoped she'd kept her face steeled, relaying no emotion.

To her credit Elsa didn't blow up and turn Anna into a human ice treat as Anna expected she'd might but there was a flash of something-irritation-in her eyes. Her brows pinched beneath her circlet of power and her lovely red lips pursed. But she didn't speak. She scooted the chair forward silently, her obvious ire making it seem like a deadly move, until her knees bumped the edge of the tub. Anna watched her carefully until Elsa pressed the pad of her index finger into her jaw and gently turned her face forward. Long, cool fingers raked through her hair, pulling it all back for Elsa to tie it out of the way. Each small scrape of her nails against Anna's scalp sent shivers down her spine that tightened her belly. A soft splash sounded then she felt a rag, warmed by the soapy hot water from the second bucket, pressed to the nape of her neck and slowly drug down the length of her spine.

This feeling was not new to her, this overwhelming heat fueled by a heady primal force. She'd had lovers before. She was a bard after all. Experiencing new things was her lifeblood. But to have the skilled hands of a Goddess washing the grime of the day from her pinked skin was an entirely different kind of feeling. What was more strange was it didn't feel new. This desire was a fire that grew from the devotion she had felt for the Goddess upon entering this castle. It caressed her insides like the tender touch of a long lost lover.

"Anna," Elsa whispered her name like a prayer, taking care to drag the cloth over the width of her shoulders slowly, reverently, "You ask me that like you think I'm a villain. Do you feel I am malevolent? Do you feel you are in danger?"

"No! No. None of that. It's just," Anna let out a long breath, trying to shake the haziness Elsa's ministrations was causing, "it feels like there is something else at play here. Not…not that I think you are being dishonest. I just can't shake this…feeling. There is something in me that….I don't know. I can't accurately describe what I am trying to convey."

"Try." This time Anna heard it. The desperation Olaf had been talking about. It was all in that single word, bleeding from each letter. So much of it was in that one word that Elsa's sure hands faltered, pressing limply against the middle of Anna's back. It reached for that familiar feeling inside Anna, that devotion, and squeezed hard. A plethora of emotions welled up from between the squeezing vice, staining her hammering heart and choking her already tight throat.

"When I came here and I saw you on your throne…a part of me cried out for you. I wanted to kneel at your feet and worship you until the day I died. I still do. The feeling hasn't gone away, it was just stronger then. Overwhelming. Its like, down in my soul, something about me belongs to you. I feel it when you are near me, especially when you touch me. It's…confusing. At best. And the way you ask for me to stay, so that you can get to know me, it…doesn't seem complete? Complete in the sense that there is more you aren't saying and I cant help but feel that it is directly correlated with that feeling I have. There is something about me you want and it wants to belong to you, whatever it is. I can feel it. I've been searching for answers related to that. I want to know what it is you really want from me."

Anna felt a slight sense of relief getting it out in the open but that relief began to dwindle the longer Elsa remained silent. Dutifully she finished cleaning Anna's back and dropped the rag into the bath with a soft plunk. Anna figured Elsa would get up and leave then, finished with whatever moment they were having and no truth would be had but this was not the case. She released Anna's hair from its confines and combed her fingers through it to do away with any strays knots. She was so gentle it was near maddening. Her hand came around to touch the bottom of Anna's chin and tip her head back, preparing for when she lifted the bucket of warm soapy water. Their gazes locked briefly allowing Anna to see something stirring in the blue of her irises, something passionate but also miserable. She would have liked to look longer, to lose herself in Elsa's eyes, but the Goddess reached to her face and passed the tips of her soft fingers over her eyes, drawing the lids shut over them. Only seconds passed before Elsa began pouring the water from the bucket over her hair, filling the air with a cloying sweetness coming off the soap in the water. She emptied the entire bucket before returning her long fingers to tend to Anna's hair, messaging small circles against her scalp and dragging the built up suds through the length of her red tresses. Anna knew that Elsa was doing this with the most innocent of intensions but couldn't help but feel that this moment was the most intimate of her entire life thus far. Her mind narrowed to only the feel of Elsa's fingers cleansing her hair so when the Goddess finally did speak, it threw her a little.

"Before I came to this place, I was an arrogant creature. I was technically a lesser God, born from two Godly parents, but a god none the less. However, unlike most my peers, my powers rivaled that of an old God. I had control over all of Winter and there is a lot of power in that. I was eager to prove my worth. I despised all who were lower than me. Especially humans. My father, the King of all Us, told me many times that humans were a beloved creation we were meant to care for and bless. But I had no tolerance for them. I saw them as weak little creatures who depended on me and mine to help them toddle through their short lives.

"One day I decided to teach them a lesson. I sat upon a rock and looked down at this place, not called Arendelle yet but the city, and lifted my hand to it. With glee I watched my ice creep over their pathetic town and freeze all that was there in the peek of their summer. On that rock I sat, listening to them plea and beg, praying to my name to stop this premature winter and give them their summer back. They were dying and soon there would be no town left. I intended to let that town be consumed by my spiteful winter. But my father found me and through me lifted my hand to melt away my curse. The people rejoiced, praising my name then, but I couldn't hear it over the irate berating of my father. Mind you, I was young and I did foolish things often so I was use to getting his wrath but it was never like this. After all I had attacked the thing he held most dear to him, his humans.

"He wrapped his hand round my throat and told me that I was never welcome to that world again, that I would not even be allowed conference with my kin less I learned my lesson, and he threw me. I fell from that place for a long while, feeling the ease that only home can bring you melt away inside me, until I landed in the middle of the town I had nearly killed. The people scattered, confused and afraid, but still curious in ways only humans can be. When I stood, I was a broken woman who had been disowned and banished to the planes that I use to look down upon. I can't explain to you how it humbled me to have those same souls I had condemned to death come to me, offering clothing to shield my body from the slight chill still in the air, offering me nourishment for my belly, roof for my head. One girl in particular, beautiful beyond anything else with hair the color of fire and eyes full and colored like warm seawater, came to me. There wasn't fear in her heart but compassion. She reached out and brushed away my tears and offered me her home, offered me what little she possessed after my winters havoc. And that broke me. In that moment I realized my fathers love for humanity. They were needy, yes, and depended on us Gods but they were pure and never tempted by power like myself. I broke for them and for those I had killed. I couldn't bare to be near them and fled to this mountain where I built this palace upon a foundation of foolish youth, loneliness, and tears. I resigned myself to this life, knowing I could never go back home and knowing I wouldn't go back if I could. I had disgraced what it means to be a God.

"But not long after I had finished this place, the beautiful girl with the sea in her eyes braved the mountain to find me. She threw open my doors like this was her home, a great big smile on her face, and rushed inside to escape the blizzard winds. I did not know what to speak for my heart was full. Her feet were quick when she came to me on my throne and she hugged me so dearly that to this day I can still feel her arms around my shoulders. She whispered to me that no one, no matter who they are, deserves to be alone. Without trying she managed to capture my heart. I fell so deeply in love with everything she was that even above, where my kin live, they could feel it. After a lifetime with her she lay in our bed, old and grey but still the absolute light of my existence, slumbering. I watched because I knew that she would leave me here. And she did. I cared to her body, carrying her down the mountain to be buried in the city near her parents that had been killed in my storm so many years ago. As I sat on the ground, in the dirt, like a regular human, my father came to me. He could not let me back into our home because his word was final but he told me my heartbreak was in every corner of the Heavens, that not one God or Goddess were without my sorrow. That, he said, was lesson enough for what I had done. And more. So he kneeled beside me, touching my hair as he did when I was a child, and gave me a gift. He told me that her soul would always be tethered to my immortality. That no matter how long it took, her soul would be born again and would come to me and I'd get the chance to love her again. Then he pressed a kiss to my temple and left me there, hopeful even in my mourning.

"It was a 100 years before a woman with fire for hair and the sea for eyes came to my mountain, flying through the doors like it was her home but asking for permission to stay anyway. She was a little taller, a little smaller, but she was the woman I loved. And more so, her soul recognized me even where her physical body did not. The soul was rich and full of all my devotion for her so it did not take long before we connected and I got another life with the woman I loved. I have spent…many lifetimes with her. Each a little different but still the same. The last was the Princess of Arendelle. She came to me only once in that lifetime. To spend a night with me and leave in the morning, back to her duty as a ruler and a wife to some distant prince. I still ache at that loss.

"You, darling Anna, possess the spirit of my beloved. Whats more, you are everything that she was right down to the name. I think you are her exact in everyway. It…is….to much for me to even put into words. Unlike all the others you felt your drawing towards me almost instantly. You came to me sooner than all the others. I don't know about your life before this but I want to know it. I desire everything that you are. I desire to give you this world and more. But I know that I am a stranger to you. I know that you did, in fact, have a life before this and may desire to go back to it rather than stay here with me. I do not ask for anything from you Anna. Well, nothing except that you stay a little longer. Give me more time before you decide. You, my darling, are my entire reason for existing and I _need_ more time with you. Even if it is only one more week. Please allot me this?"

Toward the end of Elsa's story was when she heard true desperation. This desperation reached beneath the surface of her flesh, beneath the muscle and sinew, weaving between bone, and grasped onto her old soul. It squeezed mercilessly, tugging and pulling, trying with wild abandonment to pull the longing from her for Elsa to hold between her hands. It stole the very breath from her lungs and made her rattle like a drunkard needing- _needing_ _so_ _badly_ -their vice.

Apparently the flux of emotions swelling beneath her breast shown on her face because Elsa's grew dismayed, displaying all her desperation. Her fingers shook against Anna's nape, where they had come to rest after she'd finished washing Anna's hair. Clothes and all, seemingly without even thinking about it, Elsa floated toward the end of the tub and climbed in. Water rose up and over the edge of the tub, creating a massive spill all around but she paid it no mind. Her wild look was fixed on Anna and, beneath the milky soapy water, she sought out Anna's hands. Once she had a hold of them she lifted them between them, at the level of Elsa's chin, and pressed their tangled fingers against the hollow of her throat.

"Please," begged the Goddess, eyes hazy from unshed tears, "I couldn't bare it if you denied me this…"

"I…" Anna spluttered, choking on the bulge of emotions lodged in her throat. Elsa shook her head just as a stray tear leaked from the corner of her eye. Without even thinking Anna disentangled one of her heads to brush it away with the back of her index finger, marveling at the softness of her cheek beneath the tear. This seemed to be the only thing damming up Elsa's emotions because the tears came in steady streams, accompanied by guttural sobs, and she flung herself at Anna, squeezing her tightly. She clung to Anna, hiding her face away in the crook of her neck, digging her hand into her hair and fisting a handful of it but managing not to pull so badly that it hurt. Under normal circumstances Anna would have been mortified, being nude as she was, but this was more than that. This wasn't normal. This was everything that she had ever needed and wanted, even if she didn't know it until this very moment. Her emotions were searing the insides of her heart and lighting her soul on fire. So her state of dress or the fact that they were still in the rapidly cooling bath didn't even register. She mirrored Elsa's desperation and wrapped her arms around the Goddess, pulling her tightly against herself and hiding her face in the wild mane of her hair.

"Okay…I'll stay."

 **So two chapters isn't enough it looks like. Three will have to be the magic number. Other wise this will end here and if any of you like this, then you'll want more. I was tempted to end it here. Let your imagination deal with the rest. But. I will be nice and give it a proper ending.**


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